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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28426902">Of Stars and Freckles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_mp4/pseuds/al_mp4'>al_mp4</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Tsukishima Kei, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hugging, Hurt Yamaguchi Tadashi, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash, Sleepovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Yamaguchi Tadashi Needs a Hug, Yamaguchi Tadashi's Freckles, Young Tsukishima Kei, Young Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:26:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,298</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28426902</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_mp4/pseuds/al_mp4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do you remember all those times Akiteru took us stargazing on the hill behind school?” </p><p>The shorter boy looked put off by that- understandably so. It was a weird opening statement.</p><p>“Y-yes? Kei, what-” </p><p>“The first time we went,” Kei interrupted him. He felt like if Tadashi started talking, he would never find the courage to say this again. “we were laying down, staring at all those stars, and I started showing you all the different constellations.” </p><p>“Then, after I finished talking about the pisces constellation, you started telling me a dumb story about a fish you had when you where smaller, and I turned towards you. I-” the words died in Kei’s throat, that now felt drier than ever. But Tadashi was still staring at him. He couldn’t back away.</p><p>“I turned to look at you, and you- your cheeks, they- they looked like the sky we were watching.”</p><p>--------</p><p>What happened during Kei's first sleepover at Tadashi's house.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tsukishima Kei &amp; Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>90</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Of Stars and Freckles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey, everyone!</p><p>As I've said in my previous works, keep in mind that english isn't my first language- so, if you see any mistakes and/or sentences that could be improved in any way, do not hesitate to let me know!</p><p>That being said, this fic has been in my mind for a loooong time. Yesterday night I went into brain blast mode and well, here it is. I'm actually proud of this one, so please enjoy!</p><p>P.S. This story is set when the two boys are about 10/11 years old.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kei slowly opened his heavy eyelids and stared at the blurry ceiling. </p><p>At first, he didn’t even know why he was awake- from what he could see (which, admittedly, wasn’t a lot) it was still dark outside. Then his foggy brain caught up with his body, and he realized that his throat felt parched. He definitely needed a cup of water.</p><p> </p><p>His legs started to move to get out of his (too small) twin-sized bed and go wake Akiteru, when they hit the pavement. Which- what?</p><p> </p><p>His brain apparently hadn’t gotten the memo that he was awake now, because he needed even longer to remember that <em> he wasn’t in his room. </em>He wasn’t even in his house.</p><p> </p><p>The tall boy felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him when he realized he had completely forgotten about the fact that he was sleeping over at his friend’s home- but, come on, it was probably three in the morning. You couldn’t fault his head for not being a hundred percent awake.</p><p> </p><p>Kei tried justifying himself- it was the first time he ever went to someone else’s house to sleep. <em> Ever. </em>Was he nervous? Maybe, a bit. But he would never tell Tadashi that. </p><p>The smaller boy always looked like he was ecstatic to be in Kei’s presence, but when his taller friend had accepted to go over at his home, watch some movies and then <em> sleep there (!!!) </em> he had looked like he was going to pass out from excitement. He continued rambling and making plans about <em> “Which movies are we going to watch, Kei-kun? My mom said she can make yakitori for dinner, Kei-kun! Do you want to sleep on the bed?” </em>, which, admittedly, shouldn’t have been as endearing as Kei found it to be.</p><p> </p><p>Kei debated internally on whether he should wake his friend for something as trivial as a glass of water, but his throat was <em> really </em>dry, and he didn’t know where Tadashi’s mom kept everything in the kitchen. He didn’t want to accidentally make a mess and never be invited over again.</p><p> </p><p>So, he slowly reached out to his left and grabbed his eyeglasses from the ground, letting his arm hit the colder air of the room out of the cocoon of blankets he was in, and put them on, blinking a few times to adjust his vision.</p><p>He turned his head towards his friend’s bed, the beginning of Tadashi’s name already forming on his lips, and suddenly stopped.</p><p> </p><p>Tadashi wasn’t there.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t in his bed. The covers were thrown back, and a decisely <em> Tadashi-less </em>spot was staring back at the blond kid. </p><p> </p><p>Kei squinted his eyes and turned towards the door. It was ajar, and a slither of light filtered in from the corridor. The tall boy briefly thought about what to do- he could probably just wait for Tadashi to come back, but his throat decided to remind him, yet again, that it <em> really </em>needed water. </p><p> </p><p>Kei sighed and got up from the futon he was laying on, and winced when he heard his knees crack a bit. Akiteru said it was because he was hitting his growth spurt really early, but it still made him grimace.</p><p> </p><p>His feet slowly moved to the door, hitting the hard floor with soft <em> thumps. </em> He opened it completely and stepped out in the corridor, where the air seemed to be even colder. <em> Somehow.  </em></p><p>He turned his head towards the right side of the hallway, where the bathroom door was completely open- light was coming out of the room, along with the sound of a running faucet and-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> No. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kei started striding towards the small room, his thoughts going a mile per minute. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He said he was fine, that what they said didn’t matter. He looked so chipper. He kept smiling and laughing at dinner, why- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Then why did he hear soft sobs coming out of the bathroom?</p><p> </p><p>Kei didn’t even register moving- one second he was marching towards the room, and the next one he was staring at Tadashi, standing on top of a stool and arched over the running sink, his tiny hands scrubbing furiously over his face. </p><p> </p><p>The blond boy stood there, unmoving, watching his best friend lather up soap in his hands and rub underneath his eyes and nose. Then he saw them- tears, so many of them, running down the boy’s cheeks. </p><p> </p><p>That snapped him out of his daze, and the young boy heard himself whisper “Tadashi?”, his voice cracking because of his still-dry throat. Not that it mattered now, he barely even felt it. </p><p> </p><p>The shorter kid’s eyes snapped to him the moment he heard his name, and Kei will never forget the shame, the <em> fear, </em>that took over them- it was so intense that the young boy almost took a step back and raised his arms, like someone would do to calm a frightened animal.</p><p> </p><p>Tadashi stared at him, not speaking a word. Kei could see his thoughts running around his mind, but still didn’t say anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Then, a whisper of a voice, that sounded <em> so broken </em>it tore Kei’s heart- “I… I wanted to scrub them off.”</p><p> </p><p>Kei’s eyes got wide, and he remembered that afternoon-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Tadashi was on the ground when Kei got there, with the two boys standing over him. They had obviously pushed him over, and were kicking the things that had been in the small boy’s green backpack. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Why do you still have all that dirt on your face, Yamaguchi?” they were sneering, and Kei didn’t think he had ever seen an uglier sight. “Maybe we should give you a bath someday. Throw you into the river next to the school. Maybe they’ll melt off.” then they laughed, like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard, even if Kei thought hearing his brother talk about the girl he liked for hours was definitely a funnier experience.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The bullies had gone away after they had seen him, like they always did. He didn’t like that. He liked the fact that they left Tadashi alone, of course, but he knew that he couldn’t be on his friend’s side at all hours of the day to protect him. Even if he wanted to. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Tadashi had scrubbed the dirt off of the blue jeans his mom had bought him, laughed, and then thanked him. Kei didn’t ask him if he was okay, because the answer was always the same “Of course, Kei-kun!”. So he didn’t say anything.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He should have. He should have said something, <em> god, he should- </em></p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” the same frail voice from before whispered, “I’m sorry I woke you up, I wasn’t- I didn’t mean-” Tadashi looked like he was on the verge of sobbing, and Kei’s heart broke in half. <em> If only he said something before, but no, he was always this cold, stupid, emotionless robot-  </em></p><p> </p><p>He stepped towards his best friend, his heart racing. He <em> had </em>to say something. He couldn’t be silent anymore. </p><p> </p><p>“Tadashi.”</p><p> </p><p>Just hearing his name seemed to stop the thoughts swirling in the dark haired boy’s head. Kei stared at his friend, and a small, distant part of his brain thought how it was funny that Tadashi was taller than him because of the stool he was using.</p><p> </p><p>“I- was-” Kei blushed now, aware of how he was stuttering. <em> Darn it, why wasn’t he good with talking? Akiteru was, he always- </em>“Was this because of- of what those boys said? This afternoon?”</p><p> </p><p>His friend paled, and this was all the confirmation Kei needed. </p><p> </p><p>“I-” Tadashi bit his lip, and looked down. He was trembling, the blond kid noticed. “They- they’re right. It- they look bad. I just wanted to- to try to see if they could-” </p><p> </p><p>He looked ready to start sobbing again, and Kei knew he wouldn’t be able to witness that. His mouth started talking before his head ever registered what he was saying.</p><p> </p><p>“They’re wrong.” His best friend slowly raised his eyes to look back to Kei. “Those boys, they- they’re wrong. What they said isn’t true.” <em> Come on, now is not the time to stutter. </em></p><p> </p><p>“...What?” Tadashi asked, puzzled. His eyes were so wide. </p><p> </p><p>“That thing they said about your freckles.” He heard Tadashi inhale a sharp breath. “It’s not true. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”</p><p> </p><p>“How- what? How do you-” the freckled kid looked down again, and his next sentence was barely above a whisper. “How do you know that?”<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Both Kei’s mind and heart were racing. He remembered all those times where he thought things that best friends would <em> never </em> say to each other- not that he ever had another best friend, but he had asked Akiteru, and he said that some things were just… <em> weird </em>to say. And he tried really, really hard to not stare at Tadashi’s cheeks, to not always replay in his head the way he would laugh after Kei had said a stupid joke, to not stare at the way his whole body moved when he got really carried away while talking about something. But sometimes his mind just slipped. </p><p> </p><p>Now, though- it was fine if he said some of those thoughts to Tadashi, right? He needed it. He wouldn’t think he was weird after this, right?</p><p> </p><p>The battle raging inside Kei’s head stopped the moment he heard the dark haired boy sniffle, and he suddenly realized he hadn’t answered his question in favour of having a small internal crisis. <em> Stupid. </em></p><p> </p><p>“You- every time I- '' Kei began, taking another small step forward. Tadashi’s eyes snapped up to him again, and the tall kid tried not to focus on how big they were. He took a deep breath to clear his mind, and started again.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you remember all those times Akiteru took us stargazing on the hill behind school?” </p><p> </p><p>The shorter boy looked put off by that- understandably so. It was a weird opening statement.</p><p> </p><p>“Y-yes? Kei, what-” </p><p> </p><p>“The first time we went,” Kei interrupted him. He felt like if Tadashi started talking, he would never find the courage to say this again. “we were laying down, staring at all those stars, and I started showing you all the different constellations.” He took another small step towards his best friend, who now was completely focused on him.</p><p> </p><p>“Then, after I finished talking about the <em> pisces </em> constellation, you started telling me a dumb story about a fish you had when you where smaller, and I turned towards you. I-” the words died in Kei’s throat, that now felt drier than ever. But Tadashi was still staring at him. He couldn’t back away.</p><p>“I turned to look at you, and you- your cheeks, they- they looked like the sky we were watching.” Tadashi inhaled at this, but showed no signs of understanding what Kei meant.</p><p> </p><p>“All those constellations, and galaxies, I felt like I could see them in all the freckles you have. They look like- they’re like stars, Tadashi.”</p><p> </p><p>The shorter boy’s eyes widened, and he looked at Kei with an expression he couldn’t decipher- not that he was even looking at Tadashi now, his eyes were darting all over the bathroom, too anxious to stay in one place, while his mouth kept moving, words he kept inside of him for far too long tumbling out. </p><p> </p><p>“So, what those dumb kids said isn’t true. They’re not dirt. Which wouldn’t even be possible, you can’t have <em> dirt </em> in your face. They- they’re like stars, or at least, that what I thought-”</p><p> </p><p>His crazed thoughts were interrupted by a soft <em> oomph </em> when Tadashi suddenly enveloped him in a hug. <em> How did he not notice his friend moving?  </em></p><p> </p><p>The dark haired kid was crying again, but Kei understood it was because of entirely different reasons. His face was smushed into Kei’s chest, and his arms were squeezing his taller friend. The blond kid realized his arms were around Tadashi too, and he wondered when he had raised them. A lonely thought formed in his brain- <em> that was the first time they had ever hugged. </em>It felt nice. Again, Kei could hear Akiteru’s voice in his head telling him that it was kind of weird for someone to think that of their best friend- but he really didn’t care.</p><p> </p><p>They stood there, hugging each other for what felt like hours. Kei heard a sound slowly enter his ears, and his eyes flew open when he realized the faucet was still running. It was a miracle Tadashi’s mom hadn’t woken up. </p><p> </p><p>He slowly started to disentangle his arms from his friend, who raised his head to look at him. Kei moved his eyes towards the sink, and Tadashi’s eyes widened. He turned and ran to cease the too-loud noise.</p><p> </p><p>After that, he stopped, and looked at Kei. So much was in those eyes- the want to touch him again, to hear more, to hug him and never let go, to thank him for everything- but most of all, <em> understanding </em> was there. Understanding that Kei was too tired to talk about this subject anymore, that saying what he said had taken <em> so much </em> out of him- so, his best friend simply asked: “Why did you wake up this late?”.</p><p> </p><p><em> Oh. That’s right. </em>“I- I was thirsty.”</p><p> </p><p>At that, his best friend giggled, and started walking. They both stepped outside the bathroom, and Tadashi shut the light off. </p><p> </p><p>“I <em> told you </em>that you didn’t drink enough yesterday at dinner, Kei-kun. Sometimes you’re so dumb.”</p><p> </p><p>Kei tried to hide his quickly reddening face while they were walking towards the kitchen. “Shut- shut up, Tadashi.”</p><p> </p><p>But when Kei looked at Tadashi, walking next to him with a grin plastered on his tear-stained face, he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad. How could he be, when he had the stars by his side?</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Welp, here it is! Please, please please let me know what you think of it in the comments! Did you like it? Did you hate it? My ego is fragile, and I need validation. (jk lmao)</p><p>I want to thank the girls over on Instagram that supported me and told me to write this! Y'all know who you are. I love ya. Mwah.<br/>And yeah, follow me on Instagram! I post my fanarts, mainly on tsukkiyama, because I am a weak bitch. I'm @kitzual !</p><p>I don't think I have anything else to add, so that's it! </p><p>Stay safe and have a nice rest of the day/night,<br/>Al</p></blockquote></div></div>
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